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Geoffrey Litwack: Tactical advice, observations on GTD implementation

Getting Things Done, OmniOutliner, and syncing to paper at Litwack.org

Really good post on a satisfying hybrid of paper and digital. Full of good insight and “what I’ve learned” observations. Best of many good lines: “The power of Greyskull is the power of the next action.” Word. Geoffrey says:

The two best insights working GTD has provided me with this year are:

I don’t enjoy 80% of the things I do. That’s average, I think. But by reflecting on what I do at the end of the week, I’m able to get a better handle on what to do in the future. I don’t like to grocery shop, so I’ve gotten it down to an exact science over time - not because I’m a listmaking control freak, but because it’s easier the way I do it now. Conversely, I’ve better able to recognize the things that give me joy and I’m trying to amplify them without breaking the spell. I think GTD increases awareness of what you’re doing with your time.

The other thing I always tell myself is: iterate. For most things, throwing yourself at the wall over and over is a better way to improve than thinking hard about the wall and taking pictures of it. I’m sensitive to criticism and failure, so this has been quite a lesson to learn, but I think I’ve got it now.

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cneil's picture

I saw a presentation by...

I saw a presentation by Cory Doctorow and spoke with him after the presentation. He is an impressive speaker and he recommended this site.

I think it is pretty impressive how hard people are striving for efficiency.

But in lifestyles and professions that require constant bandwidth and consumption of information I guess it is necessary.

 
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